50,000 homes will be upgraded with green improvements from a £562m fund, the government announced today (March 23).

The funding will enable more than 200 local authorities across England and Scotland to fund a nationwide upgrade of the UK’s least energy efficient and fuel-poor homes. This will help to transform over 50,000 low-income households and social housing properties and support over 8,000 energy sector jobs annually.

The schemes will include measures such as cavity wall, underfloor and loft insulation, and replacing gas boilers with low carbon alternatives like heat pumps where appropriate. It will also include installing solar panels on many social housing, helping residents on low-incomes create their own green energy to power their homes.

UK Business and Energy Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “We are ensuring households across the country enjoy warmer homes that are cheaper to heat and emit fewer emissions – all while creating new work for local plumbers, builders and tradespeople.

“This is an initial down payment on the UK government’s plan to invest over £9bn into eradicating fuel poverty, improving the lives and homes of low-income households. This is yet another important step we are taking to eliminate our contribution to climate change and build back greener from the pandemic.”

Emissions from domestic properties currently account for around 25% of the UK’s carbon emissions and is a priority area for the government. These green home projects will help cut over 70,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere annually- the equivalent of the total direct and indirect carbon footprint produced by around 9,000 UK households.

This is the latest step in the government’s plan to eradicate fuel poverty, manage energy bills, and reduce carbon emissions from domestic buildings. This will help both low-income families and social housing tenants, with 39% of social housing believed to be below Energy Performance Certificate C in England.

The government has also committed a further £60m for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. It will explore innovative ways to deliver deep retrofits of social housing.

As part of the scheme, funding will go to every English region and Scotland, including:

  • Argyll & Bute Council has been awarded £1.2m to retrofit 130 homes across 12 islands. The council will work with award winning renewable energy provider OVO (S) Energy Solutions Ltd and Argyll Community Housing Association to deliver the project
  • Leeds City Council has been awarded almost £10m to retrofit up to 600 homes across the city-region. The One project from the local council will work with Better Homes Yorkshire and ENGIE Regeneration to upgrade 190 of these homes in the Holt Park area of Leeds, helping residents save up to 70% on their energy costs.
  • Wychavon District Council has been awarded £5.8m to upgrade 236 rural and sheltered properties within the Wychavon District Council, Birmingham and Staffordshire areas. The local council will work with Rooftop Housing Group, Trent and Dove Housing, Citizen Housing Group and Trident Group to install energy efficient solar and solar thermal panels and install external wall and loft insulation.
  • Portsmouth City County has been awarded £9.4m to upgrade 1,200 homes across the Hampshire county to be more energy efficient. The local council will help residents with a combined household income below £30,000 and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E, F or G to address fuel poverty and reduce the county’s carbon emissions
  • Cornwall County Unitary Authority and Cornwall Council have been awarded a total of £2.5m to find innovative approaches to retrofit up to 300 homes across several rural clusters across the county.
  • £19.4m has been awarded to Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in partnership with London School of Economics and Build Test Solutions to upgrade 535 low-income homes on the Lancaster West Estate. Following the Grenfell Tragedy, a commitment was made by all levels of government to work with the residents of Lancaster West Estate and transform it into a model carbon-neutral 21st century estate.